Hamburger Buns

For busy (or lazy) people like me, I would prefer to make plain bread loaf or bun. It saves me the trouble of preparing the filling. So far, the fillings I have prepared at home are simply store bought grated cheese, cinnamon sugar and sausages. I really like to try fillings like curry potatoes and custard but that will have too wait.

This time, I tried a recipe from 65oC Tang Zhong Bread by Yvonne C. I heard so much about this book and it is really not disappointing. I am so inspired to try out all the recipes in the book. In this post, I have tried the hamburger buns.

I was so happy and amazed by the smell and softness of the bread when it just came out of the oven. I simply could not resist but to press the sides of the buns. Please bear with me. I hardly have success baking bread so far. Haha. After it was cooled, though not as soft as it was when it came out of the hot box, but the texture is comparable to the bakery one. As I was slicing them into half, I was smiling all the way. I had them with cheese the next morning, it was good without toasting. I had it the next next morning again with honey baked ham, still so good. I gave two to my mum and she gave me the same feedback too. She had them with ham, cheese and tomato. She said that the sesame seeds gave the bread the fragrance that cannot be found in the store bought ones. I was delighted.


Recipe (adapted from 65oC Tang Zhong Bread)

Ingredients:

(A)
bread flour 210g
cake flour 56g
milk powder 20g
castor sugar 42g
salt half tsp
instant yeast 6g

(B)
whole egg 30g
water 85g
Tang Zhong 84g

(C)
butter 22g

Sesame seeds for decorations

1. Mix (A) and (B) until it is smooth using a dough hook. Start with slow speed to prevent the flour from flying around then change to medium speed.

2. Add in (C) and knead till the dough pass the window pane stage, which means if you tear a piece of dough out, you are able to stretch it till it forms a thin membrane.

3. Make it into a round dough and put it into a floured bowl. Let it proof in an enclosed area for 40 minutes. (I placed it in a big box with a cup of steaming hot water and cover the box with the lid.)

4. When it has doubled in size, punch down the dough and divide into 9 round doughs (each ~60g) and let it rest for 10 minutes.

5. Roll them into nice round balls, brush the surface with the remaining egg or water and coat it with tonnes of sesame seeds. Space them out on greased baking tray.

6. Let it proof for another 40 minutes. 20 minutes before the end of proofing, preheat the oven to 180oC.

7. Bake for 15 minutes in middle rack. Let it cool first before slicing. Enjoy.